Some of the world’s most renowned bluegrass stars came to Owensboro to delve deep into their personal stories and offer exclusive, intimate performances. The TV show My Bluegrass Story — featuring some never-heard-before insights into the artists’ careers — was brainstormed, developed, and filmed in Owensboro. The first episode airs Friday.
My Bluegrass Story premieres on RFD-TV. The first episode features legendary bluegrass artist and Grand Ole Opry member Rhonda Vincent. Additional guests for season one include Del McCoury; Doyle Lawson; Dan Tyminski; Tammy Rogers of The Steeldrivers; Darin and Brooke Aldridge; Russell Moore; Becky Buller; Joe Mullins; Noah Wall of The Barefoot Movement; Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley; and Tony Kamel.
A teaser video of the show can be viewed here.
The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum is hosting a free watch party to view the premiere of My Bluegrass Story on Friday evening. The event is free to the public and includes live music in the lobby of the Hall of Fame beginning at 6 p.m., with the premier of the show in the Woodward Theatre at 7 p.m. Local musicians are encouraged to bring an instrument to participate in a free, open bluegrass jam.
The show came about through the collaborative effort of two Owensboro-based organizations — the Hall of Fame, and the Tanner+West advertising and design agency. The idea for the show originated in a brainstorming session between Hall of Fame Executive Director Chris Joslin and Tanner+West Owner Jason Tanner.
Featuring intimate interviews with the artists, My Bluegrass Story explores the individual journeys that shaped the careers of today’s most beloved artists in bluegrass music. The artists also interact with artifacts pertaining to bluegrass music, and perform songs important to their career. My Bluegrass Story also includes performances from the Hall of Fame and ROMP Festival.
“We are storytellers, and this show is an opportunity to tell the story of each bluegrass artist and to learn more about their creative process, influences, challenges, and career highlights,” Joslin said. “My Bluegrass Story provides viewers a taste of what they will experience when they visit the Hall of Fame in person.”
Tanner previously said the artists appreciated getting to the heart of their story through the interview process for each episode. It was the director’s role to dig deeper into the artist’s background stories, childhood memories and influences, the meaning behind certain songs, and other insights that most people have never heard before.
But he said the real highlight of each episode is a live, solo performance filmed inside the Hall of Fame room surrounded by the plaques of past Hall of Fame inductees.
“These are blow-your-mind performances,” Tanner said. “We filmed them just a few feet away, so it’s like a private concert. Just to see the level of dedication, talent, and passion these artists have is amazing and inspiring.”
Each featured artist also brought along an artifact or memento that is especially meaningful to them. Those artifacts were then left at the museum to be staged together as an exhibit at the conclusion of season one.
RFD-TV, the flagship network for Rural Media Group, is the nation’s first 24-hour television network featuring programming focused on the agribusiness, equine and the rural lifestyles, along with bluegrass music, traditional country music and other entertainment.
My Bluegrass Story will air Fridays at 7 p.m. and again at 11 p.m. To locate RFD-TV in your market, visit their website here. RFD-TV is carried by most major cable providers and can be found on the following channels in the Owensboro, Kentucky market:
- DIRECTV – 345
- Spectrum – 555
- DISH Network – 231
Joslin said the TV show is a complement to their print publication, the Bluegrass Unlimited magazine.
“Both mediums feature in-depth stories about the most compelling artists in bluegrass music encouraging fans to experience the music first-hand in Owensboro, Kentucky at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum,” he said. “We want fans to sense a connection to the artists and their music. As a result, many of the artists featured in season one of My Bluegrass Story are also scheduled to perform this year at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, either in our theater or at our annual bluegrass festival in June, ROMP Festival.”
More information about My Bluegrass Story on RFD-TV can be found here.
